If you’re like many Mythbusters fans, saddened at hearing that future episodes would no longer feature geek sidekicks Kari Byron, Tory Belleci and Grant Imahara, then take heart.
Kari Byron and Tory Belleci have returned to the airwaves with a new show, Thrill Factor, premiering tonight on Travel Channel with back-to-back episodes airing at 8pm and 8:30pm ET/PT.
Thrill Factor features Kari and Tory taking viewers along for the ride as they explore the exciting world of thrill rides, waterslides and heart-pounding experiences around the globe through a scientific lens. In this 10-part half-hour series, they will be taking their passion for adventure, travel and science to the max as they dive into the amazing engineering, physics and biomechanics that explain why these wild rides excite adrenaline junkies around the world. From racing IndyCars in wine country to studying what it takes to plummet down the world’s tallest waterslide in Kansas, each episode travels to amusement spots near and far, offering a different and daring thrill.
In the premiere episode, Byron and Belleci investigate how drop rides are designed to exploit our natural fear of falling to both torture and thrill us. Heading to Florida’s Busch Gardens, they take a ride on Falcon’s Fury – the tallest freestanding ride in North America – to experience the adrenaline firsthand.
Then in the second half-hour premiere, Byron and Belleci travel to Indiana to determine whether there’s any difference in how men and women react to extreme thrill rides. With the launch coaster Thunderbird as their lab, Byron and Belleci use high-tech biosensors to dissect the stress responses of male and female riders.
Whether they’re jumping out of planes in Vegas or riding the world’s first upside-down wooden rollercoaster in Wisconsin, Byron and Belleci serve as test subjects as they strap into these fast and frightening rides, collecting data behind the science of fun.
